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Solar Decathlon at Home in the D.C. Community

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A New Energy-Efficient Home in the D.C. Community

On December 4, 2012, the Empowerhouse team, along with partners and community members, completed the installation of a permanent, two-family home in Washington, D.C. The home was originally showcased as part of the U.S Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon 2011.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 12:22

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The house is located in the D.C. neighborhood of Deanwood, which is just 10 miles from the National Mall. By installing the house nearby, the team was able to minimize shipping costs, therefore reducing the house's carbon footprint.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Kitchen and Living Area

Interior design students selected sustainable, affordable furnishings and fittings with an eye toward the character of the neighborhood.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Kitchen and Dining Area

Materials were selected according to a series of criteria including: affordability, green certification, embodied energy, non-toxicity, livability, constructability and overall environmental impact. Meeting these criteria ensures Empowerhouse is an affordable, buildable home, with healthy indoor air quality.
Low-embodied energy materials that are non-toxic and locally sourced were used whenever available & economically feasible.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:01

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High Performance Windows and Doors

Windows are oriented and installed to take advantage of passive-solar heat gain. The windows are air tight, include thermal breaks, minimize air infiltration and exfiltration, which results in a high R-value. Low-emissivity (low-e) coatings, microscopically thin, transparent layers of metal or metallic oxide deposited on the surface of the glass, further increase the R-value.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Living Room and Stairway

The stair loft brings light deep into the center of the home. Interior window trim is splayed to maximize views and daylight; and reduce glare, contrast and the apparent thickness of the walls.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Energy-Efficient Appliances

The Empowerhouse team partnered with sponsors, some of which donated energy-efficient appliances towards the construction of both homes.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 10:49

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A Winning Example

Empowerhouse is the result of a community-based approach to building affordable, ultra-efficient housing that addresses all aspects of domestic life.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 10:36

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Downstairs Bedroom

General artificial lighting is provided by low cost, high efficiency linear fluorescents and LED light sources that reflect off of the vertical and horizontal surfaces of the house, while focused activities are addressed with additional task lighting. These systems complement each other to create a rich and varied living environment.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 13:29

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Downstairs Bathroom

Every aspect of the energy-efficient home is designed to minimize energy consumption, whether they are wireless switches that use less energy to communicate or low-flow fixtures to ensure efficient consumption of water.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 13:32

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Back Porch

Materials were selected according to a series of criteria including: affordability, green certification, embodied energy, non-toxicity, livability, constructability and overall environmental impact.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 10:40

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Upstairs Landing

A centrally-placed, large window on the upper level of the home maximizes the amount of natural light flow throughout the home.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Upstairs Bedroom

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Upstairs Bedroom

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Green Rooftop Deck

The house is equipped with a rain garden that collects and filters storm-water from the roof for use in the gardens.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:31

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Green Rooftop Deck

The rain garden system minimizes the amount of potable city water used for irrigation, as well as reducing the water that is drained into the public sewer system.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Empowerhouse

This house empowers the homeowners with the ability to grow their own produce. Planters are designed for growing fruits and vegetables, promoting a healthy diet and saving the family the cost of buying produce.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:27

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Introducing: Empowerhouse

Steven Scribner, the student who served as project manager for Empowerhouse, discusses the goals of the team when building the house.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Introducing: Empowerhouse

Members of the local community joined Empowerhouse and its partners in welcoming the families into their new homes.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Eager to Move In

One of the youngest members of Empowerhouse's families points towards the house before he and his family is taken on their first tour of their new home.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 10:49

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Richard King, Department of Energy

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:01

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A Warm Welcome to the Neighborhood

One of the new homeowners, Layika Culley, speaks to the gathering in front of her new home.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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A Celebration

One of the new homeowners, Layika Culley, and her family cut the ribbon to her new ultra-efficient home in the historic Deanwood neighborhood.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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A Celebration

One of the new homeowners, Layika Culley, and her family cut the ribbon to her new ultra-efficient home in the historic Deanwood neighborhood.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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A Celebration

One of the new homeowners, Layika Culley, and her family cut the ribbon to her new ultra-efficient home in the historic Deanwood neighborhood.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Super Insulation

The exterior envelope is super insulated and composed of 12” deep, engineered wood I-joists sandwiched between two layers of wood sheathing. The cavity is filled with dense pack cellulose insulation achieving an R-Value over 40.

Image: Sarah Gerrity

Date taken: 2012-12-04 09:00

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Solar Panels

A solar array produces all of the energy to heat and cool the home, power the lighting, and run the hot water heater and electric appliances, eliminating electricity bills for the Deanwood families.